*By Carlo Versano*
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti mulled a 2020 presidential run in an interview on Cheddar Monday, saying the cure to America's "odious" political sickness may be found in city hall.
"I hope that even if I don't run, that mayors will think about jumping in," Garcetti said, "because I think we could cut through a lot of that partisanship right now."
Garcetti, however, hedged on whether he would leave Los Angeles, where he has served as a Democrat since 2013, for a bid at the White House.
"I love L.A," Garcetti added. "If I were to run for president it would only be by seeing that I could do more for L.A."
And many in his hometown hope he stays put. The Los Angeles Times ran an opinion [column](http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-arellano-garcetti-20181024-story.html) last week urging Garcetti not to run for president, saying, "there's plenty for you to do in Los Angeles."
As part of his administration's goal of positioning L.A. as a tech-forward cradle of innovation to rival any city to the north, Garcetti unveiled the "Pledge LA" initiative to increase diversity among the city's burgeoning tech sector as well as L.A.-based companies that may not consider themselves tech players. "What isn't a tech job today?" he asked.
From Soylent and downtown food-science labs to Elon Musk's Boring Company digging tunnels under the city, to Netflix's ($NFLX) continued disruption of Hollywood, "everything is really technology."
Garcetti is asking L.A. businesses to take stock and make commitments to hire more women and people of color. He's also asking his roster of CEOs to "take that same sort of spirit of innovation and help L.A." by donating time and resources to address civic issues like homelessness and traffic.
For his part, Garcetti noted that he began a city library STEM program that is already majority female, and increased the number of women in his board and commissioner roles to more than 50 percent in six months. If slow-moving government can do that, he asks, imagine what the private sector can do for its own ranks.
"We want to make sure they don't look like the demographics from 'Mad Men'," he said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/l-a-mayor-eric-garcetti-on-tech-diversity-and-his-2020-plans).
Many U.S. consumers say they’ve noticed higher than usual prices for holiday gifts in recent months, according to a a December poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A contributing factor is the unusually high import taxes the Trump administration put on foreign goods. While the worst-case consumer impact that many economists foresaw from the administration’s trade policies hasn’t materialized, some popular gift items have been affected more than others. Most toys and electronics sold in the U.S. come from China. So do most holiday decorations. Jewelry prices have risen due to the cost of gold.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to block states from regulating artificial intelligence. He argues that heavy regulations could stifle the industry, especially given competition from China. Trump says the U.S. needs a unified approach to AI regulation to avoid complications from state-by-state rules. The order directs the administration to draw up a list of problematic regulations for the Attorney General to challenge. States with laws could lose access to broadband funding, according to the text of the order. Some states have already passed AI laws focusing on transparency and limiting data collection.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
House Republicans in key battleground districts are working to contain the political fallout expected when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. For a critical sliver of the GOP majority, the impending expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 could be a major political liability as they potentially face midterm headwinds in a 2026 election critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. For Democrats, the party’s strategy for capturing the House majority revolves around pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on Republicans.
